MyTOWN Cheras to build new towers above mall in anticipation of IKEA boom

It was reported in a business publication this week that plans are underway to build two or three towers that will sit directly above the fringe of the rooftop carpark of the MyTOWN Shopping Centre project.

The MyTOWN project in Cochrane, Cheras in Kuala Lumpur is being developed by Boustead Ikano Sdn Bhd (BISB), a 50:50 joint venture between Boustead Holdings Bhd and Ikano Pte Ltd.

Boustead is a government-linked company in Malaysia with a diversified interests in six primary sectors. Singapore-based Ikano Pte Ltd owns and operates IKEA stores in Southeast Asia and under the franchise rights from IKEA System BV. It operates as a subsidiary of Ikano S.A., a privately held international group of companies owned by the founding family of IKEA.

According to the business publication, BISB has provided for structural and infrastructure requirements for a total of three towers in the planning of the shopping centre as it decides whether to build two service apartment towers and one hotel tower, or two service apartment towers and one office tower, or to build only two towers.

The masterplan of the project is being finalised, including the detailed planning of the right product in order to serve the expectations of property buyers in the next three years.

With the addition of residential and commercial components, the entire masterplan will have a gross development value (GDV) in excess of RM3 billion.

The MyTOWN project is expected to be a one-stop lifestyle destination for shopping, dining and social meetings for family and friends, in addition to having Malaysia's largest IKEA store seamlessly connected to the shopping centre.

The IKEA Cheras store is set to open to much funfare on 19 November, less than two weeks away.

It will be Malaysia's second IKEA store after the opening of IKEA Damansara in 2003. Spanning 42,000 sq m, IKEA Cheras will be 20 percent larger than IKEA Damansara, which was the biggest IKEA store in Asia at that time of opening and remained one of the most visited IKEA store in the world until today.

The Swedish home furnishing giant has already confirmed a new store in the northern state of Penang and is now concluding a new location in the southern state of Johor.

Malaysia's largest IKEA store is opening on 19 November 2015.

MyTOWN Shopping Centre, which will be opening in Q4 2016, will have an elevated ramp from the Maju Expressway (MEX) into its multi-level carpark. It will have 6,500 parking bays spread over two levels of basement car parks and four levels of elevated car parks.

There will be a pedestrian tunnel connecting MyTOWN's basement supermarket retail level directly to the Cochrane underground mass rapid transit (MRT) station. The MRT station will be operational by July 2017, and is only 1 station away to the interchange stations of TRX and Maluri, and 2 stations away to Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur's shopping district.

The mall aims to have 28 million mall visitors a year. It will have five floors of retail space with a net lettable area (NLA) of 1.1 million square feet, with an approximately 460 retail establishments.

The mall features a sunken garden with step seating, semi-covered event pavilion, landscaped outdoor park, international dining at al-fresco dining terrace, children's play zone, indoor event spaces, departmental store, lifestyle grocer, fitness centre and a 13-screen cineplex, which will be the largest cineplex in Cheras.

BISB mentioned that ultimately, the towers sitting above the retail component would have to provide the best synergy to the MyTOWN Shopping Centre, the IKEA store and other developments by Boustead Group in the Cochrane area.

The Boustead Group collectively owns 50 acres of land in the Cochrane area, which will be developed over time.

The mall is designed by international and local architectural firms Broadway Malyan Pte Ltd and Arkitek MAA Sdn Bhd. On 30th October last year, WCT Bhd accepted a RM651.6 million contract to build MyTOWN Shopping Centre.

The immediate next phase is likely to be a freehold residential condominium project across the road on an 8-acre site. It will be known as One Cochrane Condominiums, and is planned for launch in October 2016.

The developer Mutiara Rini Sdn Bhd, also a subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Bhd, will build four residential towers with a total of 800 condominium units, comprising two 42-storey blocks (344 units) and two 41-storey blocks (456 units).

The project already has more than 4,000 expressions of interest. The estimated pricing for the first launch of condominiums would be RM1,000 per square foot, with sizes varying from 973 (1+1 room) to 1,400 square feet.

A show gallery will be built for One Cochrane adjacent to the site.

According to BISB, the primary reasons Cheras were chosen for the MyTOWN project and the country's largest IKEA store were due to the convincing population growth and the development potential of the vicinity, which is just a 5-minute drive time to the city centre, the upcoming financial district Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and linked to the MRT station.

The mall is strategically located on Jalan Cochrane, with the potential to reach more than 1.6 million shoppers within a 10-minute drive and 5 million shoppers within a 30-minute drive.

Besides MEX, MyTOWN is also accessible from Jalan Tun Razak/Bulatan Pandan, New Pantai Expressway (NPE), SMART Tunnel, Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Highway and Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2). Jalan Cochrane will be widened to accommodate new tunnelways for cars exiting the mall and both Jalan Cochrane and Jalan Nakhoda Yusof will be further expanded to cater to the influx of cars in the area.

With IKEA as the biggest crowd puller, it is no wonder that the tenant mix of MyTOWN will be among the best in Cheras, Ampang and beyond. The mall has secured over 60% of its tenants one year before it opens, and is expected to be opened with at least 85% occupancy rate.

"Ikano's mall in Bangkok, the Megabangna shopping complex anchored by IKEA, is a good example. It has more than 40 million visitors annually and has won international mall-design, brand selection and shopper awards, says MyTOWN general manager Kenny Chin.